Bloody Roses
by yuureiburu
Summary: Three years ago Tsunade would have chosen Naruto within a heartbeat to be her successor. But now she would do everything to stop him from achieving his goal. With darkness seeping in the very heart of Konoha, Sakura must learn not to trust her former teammates as they are destined to be the downfall of everything she knew, while dealing with the responsibility of a Hokage.ON HIATUS


**Warnings: **_This is AU, meaning that it will not really follow the manga. Team seven is 20- 21 years old and the rest of Konoha 11 is younger than them, meaning they are like 5-7 years as of now. There is a deep bound between Sasuke and Naruto. Consider it shounen-ai if you like, but they aren't really together or in love with each other. Dark!Naruto, because there will be some reasons in the following chapters. No pairings as of now...?_

**Author's Note: **_Well, this is the prologue of my first fanfiction, ever. Some things will make more sense in the next chapters. I hope you liked it, and don't forget to review. I would like to know what do you think, and I will appreciate every one of your opinions. I have no beta, so if you see some mistakes, don't hesitate to point them out. _

**Disclaimer:** _I do not own Naruto._

* * *

** PROLOGUE**

**_E_**_merald green eyes stared _at the place where her former team mate was to rest in peace from now on. A smirk formed on the girl's face at the foolishness of that thought. _He_'d never have peace. Not when he was alive and not now, when he was dead.

Memories of the long gone times when they _all _were a team played in her mind, as her eyes began to sting. She shook her head. She will not cry now. His path had been carved in the stars that shine every night since before he was born. He had followed his destiny, even thought it had led to his downfall.

Now he was just a memory that brought back bitterness. He couldn't be saved. Not even Naruto, their once loudmouth of a team mate, couldn't bring him back home. But, even if the avenger would let himself be dragged home, deep down they both knew that _their _Sasuke was gone. Gone.

Sakura sighed as she let the wind caress her long pink hair. It had been only a month since Sasuke had been killed and buried six feet underground outside the walls of Konoha.

Everything had changed since his death. Kakashi was _still _reading his damn porn, but it wasn't the same. He looked absent, staring through the book at nothingness. Even Naruto was now more secretive and didn't speak with the same eagerness as before. He was becoming strong indeed, his goal to become Hokage still alive.

But there was something not right about it anymore.

It seemed that he desired that position, always trying to prove himself worth and strong. There was something about the way he was looking at the other possible candidates for the Hokage title. And the way he was fighting enemies─ sometimes even his own comrades in spars─ wasn't the same anymore. He was more aggressive and that scared her.

Yes, even after all these years she was _scared _of the fact that another precious person will leave from her life.

She spoon around and emerald eyes meet icy blue. The blonde nodded his head in greetings.

"Nice to see you here, Sakura." His voice sent shivers down her spine as his eyes pierced through her very soul. The truth was that he started to change two years before Sasuke's death. She noticed how every morning he would show up at the training grounds bearing now scratches or minor wounds and when they asked what happened he will brush it off with a smile and threw in a joke.

But slowly the smile formed into a frown and the jokes turned into annoyed grunts. He still showed up with fresh cuts every morning, mostly were across his nose, neck and shoulders. They weren't deep, but it seemed that the Kyuubi's healing was slower than usual.

After Sasuke died, Naruto chased to train with Sakura and Kakashi like they usually did every morning. He seemed to care much more about getting stronger and taking the Hokage's position.

"Have you come here to visit Sasuke's grave…? " She asked a bit awkwardly. His nose twitched as he smirked.

"No, I have come here just to stare at you staring at a stone. Tch." Even thought it was supposed to sound like a joke, it didn't. "Now get out of the way, you stared at the fuckin' grave for _hours._" He pushed her aside as he laid a white and red rose on the stone that had their former team mate's name carved on.

Sakura nodded absently. She was getting used to her team mate new personality, anyway. She turned her back at him and began to leave when the blonde's voice pierced her thoughts.

"Tsunade-_sama_ wants to see you. Something personal, I guess…" his voice trailed off as he got up then left without looking back or saying another world. She knew that he was curious about what Tsunade wanted, but he hid it well.

She turned and looked at the grave of her dead former team mate and froze. From the white and red rose that Naruto had lain on Sasuke's grave was dripping blood. She observed with horror that it was actually a white rose soaked in blood.

And she had a good idea at exactly whose blood it was.

* * *

Sakura entered the Hokage's office when Tsunade gave her the permission to come in. The blond Hokage was staring blankly at a piece of paper and sighed. The older woman looked at the pink haired ninja.

"Danzo has been murdered." Tsunade's voice was devoid of any emotion. She didn't need to continue, Sakura knew who did this. She silently thought that the man deserved it, after messing with the last Uchiha's life and then murdered him. But then it hit her like a thousand bricks.

"He was blinded by grief…" she defended her friend─ no, her _former _friend─ weakly. Even for her this sounded stupid and she winced at the cold stare Tsunade sent at her. And she got the message that her mentor sent at her.

_Don't try to defend him, you know his guilty._

Tsunade sighed and shook her head then she rested her forehead on her hand. She massaged her temples and turned at Sakura again.

"I can't trust him anymore."

"But-"

"Don't try to defend him! He is not Naruto, not _our _Naruto. He has changed…" the blonde woman shook her head like she didn't believe ─ didn't _want_ to believe─ it herself.

"People change."

"Not that much." Tsunade snapped and winced at her own high voice. "I will have to step down from my position as Hokage. By the next year there will be a new Hokage taking care of all the people in Konoha, defending them and… dealing with paperwork." The Hokage spoke quietly.

Silence fell. Sakura understood since the beginning that this was what the Godaime wanted to speak with her. Danzo's death was just an excuse to bring this subject up.

When the blonde Hokage stopped talking and began to stare at her desk, she opened her mouth to speak, only to be silenced be Tsunade's sad voice as the woman looked at her.

"Three years ago I would have chosen him without a second thought," her voice was quiet and full of sorrow, like a mother speaking about her dead son. "Naruto was─ and he still is─ strong, and he had something that he now… hasn't. I've seen how he talked about his dream of being Hokage. He wanted to protect this village. Now…" she trailed of looking at the ground then straightened up and her voice was cold. "He wants power. He is thirsty for power…"

Sakura stared at her mentor for a while. Yes, this was the cruel truth. Naruto didn't seem to give a rat's ass for his friends, much less for the villagers who treated him like trash when he was little. He grew up being ambitious and cheerful. He became a hero in everyone's eyes.

_What had changed?_

Tsunade started to speak again, but Sakura wasn't listening. Until she caught a part from her Hokage's speech that made her froze on the spot.

"… I decided that you will be the next Hokage." The Godaime finished and looked at Sakura straight in the eyes.

"What?" the pink haired girl gasped as her eyes went wide. "Tsunade, but maybe we could still trust Naruto. Maybe he… he…," she trailed of and looked anywhere but at her mentor's face. There was no possible reason for Naruto's behavior except of…

"I know it's hard for you, but you were always my second choice after Naruto. And now, when there is no denying his intentions, there is no one I trust more than you. And _that _Naruto should be glad I covered him. No one besides you and me know what he did. As long as the Council and the others are concerned, Danzo was killed by an unknown assassin. And you know that I am not speaking _only _about Danzo's murder." The Hokage's voice was firm, barely leaving enough space for an argument.

"Kami and The Village Hidden in the Stars* know best. Maybe they will light your decision. Maybe he has a good reason…" Sakura offered.

The pink haired kunoichi bowed and left the Hokage alone.

Tsunade knew that Sakura still cared for Naruto, but this wasn't the Naruto they knew. _Their _Naruto was _gone, gone, gone!_ And the blond Hokage knew it since the first day Kakashi told her that he was turning up every day with wounds.

She knew who _he _had chosen_ to 'light' _his path. And there was not coming back.

A sob left the blond Hoakage's lips.

* * *

Sakura's mind was whirling. She did know that Tsunade trusted her at some point, but she never would have guessed that she was fit for the position in her mentor's eye. She didn't want to refuse or disappoint the blond leader, but maybe, just maybe Kami would show them the right decision.

Her eyes began to sting. _What changed? _

She was so deep in her thoughts that she did not observe a pair of icy blue eyes staring at her back as she left the Hokage's Tower. They narrowed and flashed red, a low growl leaving their owner's lips.

* * *

_Dark clouds were covering the once bright sky. The trees were stripped of their green leaves and their barks looked burnt. No birdsong could be heard to lighten the somber atmosphere._

_Emerald eyes widened when she met hazel eyes._

_"Tsunade-sama!" Sakura gasped when she saw her Hokage looking in disbelief at the ruins that surrounded them. She felt a little dizzy when she observed that it was what used to be Konoha. _

_Tsunade didn't respond as she stared at the blood puddles on the burnt ground. They seemed to form a trail that led outside the village, through the broken gates. Unidentified dead bodies were nerly everywhere. _

_"It's a dream Sakura" said the Hokage. _

_"A… A dream?!" _

_The blond woman turned her soft hazel eyes on her former apprentice. "You said that Kami and The Village Hidden in the Stars will light our path. They are sending us this dream as a response…" She gestured with her hand towards the blood trail. "I think we should follow it"_

_And without waiting for a response from Sakura, she proceeded to walk away, with the pink haired girl following close. The forest that surrounded Konoha was no better. It looked like a big fire engulfed all the trees. They stopped when they heard a loud scream, but when it stopped, they continued._

_When they emerged from the dead forest's protection on the river's bank their eyes widened. The water was red from Naruto's blood as he was lying lifeless on his side at the edge of the water. Blood poured from a huge gash on his neck, pooling around him and into the water. His lips were drawn in a snarl, his eyes glossy and narrowed. All in all, he looked like he was defying death._

_But their attention was brought back by the trail of black red blood that wasn't exactly leading at Naruto, but at his hands. Near his stomach was a white rose soaked in his own blood. Yes, his own symbol for revenge used against him. The Hokage's hat was lying, blood soaked, in the river's bank near the blond boy's head._

_There was no denying it. Sakura knew that the moment she saw her mentor's eyes staring blankly at the blond. The Village Hidden in the Stars had made it all too clear._

_If he put his hands on the position as Hokage, he would destroy them all. And he wouldn't even regret it._

_Sakura stared as the lifeless blonde's face for what seemed like forever. His eyes narrowed in what seemed anger and hatred, and his animalistic defiant snarl where clear signs that it wasn't the Naruto she knew. She knew the truth, but even now she was trying denying it._

What happened? What happened? Why?

_She asked herself over and over again. She turned her head to Tsunade and saw her staring intensely at the far bank. A cherry tree that seemed to survive was blossoming._

_So this is what they wanted._

_She was the one who will be Hokage, chosen both by Kami and the Godaime._

_But if she will follow this destiny, taking away Naruto's chance at becoming Hokage, wha will happen to him? He already seemed so far away… _

* * *

***Village Hidden in the Stars- _where all the good ninjas and civilians go after they die; they are ruled by Kami and help her communicate her decisions with the living through dreams._**


End file.
